Just Great
by MagicCandyCat
Summary: Vaan was certain that visiting Penelo in England was a bad idea as soon as he set foot there. But that was set to change when he entered the Strahl Motel. AU. BalthierxVaan. Shonen-ai.
1. In Which Vaan Arrives In England

**A.N. Wrote this a while ago for a contest on DA, but I couldn't be asked to finish it at the time. I have started playing with a second chapter, but dunno if I should continue it. Review with opinions? It's Balthier/Vaan, as _there is just not enough around_! Enjoy!**

**Disclaimer: Do we see Balthier wandering around topless and kissing Vaan every 5 seconds in FFXII? Didn't think so.

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Vaan had two simple words for his predicament. Just _great_.

Imagine this. He had not see his best friend, Penelo, for five years, due to her moving to England. He still couldn't fathom a good enough reason to move from nice sunny Florida to horrible, wet, cold, wet, depressing and, did he mention _wet_ England. But he loved Penelo like a sister, and so when she begged him to visit her in London, how could he refuse?

And that was how he had wound up in this predicament. He had arrived at the airport, and he waited outside, just like Penelo had told him to. _So where the Hell was she!? _

Vaan rubbed his arms in a vain attempt to keep warm as the rain continued to pelt down as dusk approached. He'd been waiting for two hours. _Two hours_. He couldn't exactly wander off; he'd never been to England before and would just end up more lost than he was.

The blond young man was brought out of his musings as he felt a vibration in his pocket. He quickly whipped his phone out, and seeing the caller ID, answered it, glaring.

"Penelo, you better have a good excuse-"

"I'm really sorry Vaan! I tried to get off early from work, but the person to replace me bailed on Migelo and I can't leave until tomorrow!"

"Then what am I supposed to do?"

"Get a cab to the _Strahl Motel_. My friends run it. Ask for Balthier and say you're a friend of Penelo's, and they'll look after you tonight and I'll pick you up in the morning."

Vaan sighed, "Fine, but you can pay for making me stay there."

"Of course I will! I'll speak to you soon Vaan, again, I'm _sooo_ sorry." Penelo abruptly hung up, and Vaan shrugged as he slipped his phone back into his pocket. Grabbing his rather tattered suitcase, he meandered over to the taxi stop.

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The bell tinkled as the Vaan slammed the door open in the vain attempt to stop himself getting even more soaked from the torrential downpour. How did people put up with this weather!? He quickly thanked the taxi driver for bringing the rest of his bags in – despite the fact said driver was glaring at him for making the seat wet, what else did he expect? – and went over to the front desk.

Which by the looks of things, was empty.

"Hello? Anyone here?" Vaan awaited a response, but sighed when no one arrived. Two weeks. Two weeks and he's be back in the lovely sunshine of Florida, where you actually got service when you arrived at a hotel. Or motel in this case.

A female voice shouted through that someone would be with him shortly, to which Vaan sighed in aggravation.

The décor inside the lobby was odd to say the least. There were paintings of strange flying ship things and places that looked like they were out of a Star Wars movie. There were several bows, arrows and firearms in display cabinets, all with odd names. Whoever ran the establishment must have been pretty damn weird in Vaan's opinion.

And that's when he heard it.

The most _gorgeous_ voice that had ever graced Vaan's ears.

"I assume that you are Penelo's dear friend Vaan?"

Turning around, Vaan gazed upon the stunning man with dark hair and the most dazzling smile he had ever seen (and that was saying something, Florida was full of those fake dazzling smiles).

"Well?" Vaan suddenly realized that the gorgeous man had asked him a question.

"Sorry, what?"

Gorgeous Man chuckled, "Obviously you are Penelo's friend, she warned me about possible jet lag."

Vaan decided not to bother correct gorgeous man (who had the loveliest British accent ever. How could a guy be that perfect!?) on the fact that it was him causing Vaan's idiocy.

"My name Balthier, the leading man here at the _Strahl_. Penelo just rung to alert me to your impending arrival."

"V-Vaan."

Balthier smiled, which made Vaan weak at the knees, "Well, I have a spare room for you. In between my room and Fran's. Dinner will be in an hour." He handed the keys to the still rather dazed Vaan, "Top floor, room 2." Balthier smiled again (Vaan started to wonder if the man _knew _what effect his smile was having on him) "I hope to see you at dinner."

With another striking smile, Balthier wandered off back into what Vaan assumed was his office. As he heard Balthier talking to the woman's voice from earlier, his opinion changed very rapidly.

He was going to stay in the horribly rainy England a _lot _longer than first anticipated, to get closer with Mr. Gorgeous Man Balthier.

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**TBC? Review to make it so!**


	2. In Which Fran Introduces Herself

**A.N. By surprising popular demand, Chapter 2. Hope you enjoy :D**

**Still don't own *pines for shirtless Balthier*  
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The sunlight seemed to glitter as it sneaked through the blinds, bombarding Vaan and ripping away the sleep his jet lag so desperately clung to. He kept his eyes firmly shut in a vain attempt to fall back to sleep, but it was to no avail. After a few minutes of intense war, Vaan finally gave up the losing battle, sitting up and blinking away the last dregs of his slumber. It took a couple of moments for Vaan to realise that, in this unusual climate, going to bed topless was a pretty _dire_ idea.

Whilst scrabbling for a delightfully warm jumper (thanking any higher beings that he packed them), the rather condescending side of his personality pointed out that visiting England wasn't a great idea either. Of course, another part of his psyche – which his jet lag had now, reluctantly, released – reminded him about the gorgeous man named Balthier, who lived in the abysmal England, but was friends with Penelo, the same Penelo Vaan was very close to.

Things seemed stacked in his favour.

As he started to formulate a master plan (Operation: Get Balthier As MINE), his thoughts were interrupted by a knock on the door.

Cue panic.

What if it was Balthier coming in to check on him? Vaan stared in horror at his jumper - a gift from Migelo, the being with the worst fashion sense to walk the Earth – and started yanking the gaudy lime and red jumper off, trying to tame his bed head before anyone came in. English weather be damned, he was going to be topless to show Balthier what he could have.

And then the door opened.

And Vaan stared, though he knew he really shouldn't. His Mum did say it was _rude _to stare.

It slowly became apparent in Vaan's slightly sleep fogged mind that, as Balthier did not possess breasts, and this dark skinned person in the doorway did, it was not Balthier in the doorway. If that wasn't a relief, Vaan didn't know what was.

The woman (Vaan had managed to remind himself it was women and extra fat men who had breasts that protruded) was quite tall, with dark skin and white hair that any hair product model would be jealous of. Vaan would probably have described her as beautiful, if it wasn't for the fact she was glaring at anything and everything. Vaan hoped that she was simply not a morning person.

The woman turned her piercing gaze to Vaan, who managed to stand his ground (which he was rather proud of, considering he'd hide under his bed to escape this scary looking woman), and her eyes soften a small amount. Who wouldn't feel sorry for a topless, shivering young man with a comb lodged firmly in his hair due to tangles?

"I assume you are Vaan, Penelo's friend from America. Am I correct?" The woman's light voice was gentle, and seemed to float across the room to Vaan, shocking him slightly. He, nonetheless, nodded in confirmation to her question. She smiled slightly, which made her seem slightly more gentle to Vaan, "I am Fran, I am one of the owners of _The Strahl_, along with Balthier. Penelo called to alert us as to your current situation. Do not worry about your staying cost, Balthier and myself have arranged it with Penelo." She ceased speaking, then looked Vaan up and down, with what Vaan could have sworn was a scrutinizing gaze, "Breakfast is available for those _dressed appropriately _in half an hour." With the poor American boy blushing, Fran turned to leave, but with her fingers atop the door handle, she looked over her shoulder towards him.

"A word of advice."

"Huh?"

"Balthier has been put off sluts, so you are not going to progress far with attracting his affections in this fashion." With which, Fran left, shutting the door on Vaan, who felt he had definitely been knocked down several marks.

Balthier was not, in any way shape or form, a happy bunny about his current stage in life. His morning had been near apocalyptic, regardless of the fact Fran stated in a bored fashion that Balthier was over exaggerating. To begin with, he had tumbled out of bed in a rather undignified manner (completely unsuited for a leading man)whilst trying to shut his nuisance of an alarm clock up. This turn of events resulted in him having a rapidly forming bruise on his ribcage and a throbbing pain on the side of his head where the alarm clock had attacked his poor defenceless skull. Said alarm clock had now been thrown out the window and was probably sinking into the lake. Good riddance. A few minutes later, Balthier was going to indulge in a relaxing shower, only to find out Fran had used all of the hot water. Upon confrontation, she simply smirked and told him he should get up earlier. If she was not his closest friend and business partner, he probably would have throttled her.

That and the fact leading men never hit or throttled women.

Furthermore, the room directly below his own was occupied by a couple who had decided to use his motel for a dirty weekend, and a particularly _loud _one at that. He tried to block out the screams for 'more', 'harder', 'faster' and 'watch where you're putting your finger!', but to no avail, which now resulted in huge black bags under his eyes. He relished in taking the blushing couple's money and telling the young man to watch where he put his fingers, which caused both to leave in a hurry, much to Balthier's satisfaction.

This still did not help to budge Balthier from the slump he found himself in. He was still in complete shock about how his last relationship with a floozy had ended. _He _was the one dumped. The floozy had severed their connection. Not Balthier 'The Heartbreaker' Bunansa, Slut Number 24 (or was it 25?). Balthier had had enough of relationships with men after the last disaster – let's not go into that, eh? - and had tried to return to his straight roots. All 24 or 25 attempts had failed, why must women have so much drama?

"Balthier, cease moping and assist me with these pancakes for our guests." Fran continued to glare at Balthier's back, from where he was staring at one of the particularly clean plates on the drying rack. He sighed and turned away from the drying plates and started sorting out utensils for their guests, working silently.

He felt a gentle hand on his shoulder, and turned to Fran's sympathetic gaze. Her eyes were soft, knowing of his still disastrous love life – that, she _might_ stretch to calling apocalyptic – and sympathising with her dear friend. "You will find whoever it is you truly belong with, regardless of their gender. Just be patient Balthier."

He blinked in surprise, then smiled gently his friend. What would he do without her? "You're right Fran. It's unsuitable for a leading man to get down over their _love life_ of all things."

Fran joined her friend in smiling, until they smelt a rather annoying scent.

"The pancakes are burning."

"I _had _noticed, foolish man."


End file.
